EYFS - Setting up Outdoor Provision to Support Teaching ... · skills in the Autumn term –...

LANCASHIRE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SERVICE – EARLY YEARS AND WHITEFIELD NURSERY AND INFANT SCHOOL,

NELSON LANCASHIRE

EYFS - Setting up Outdoor Provision to Support Teaching and Learning – COVID 19

This document has been written to support schools in thinking about how to create exciting outdoor spaces to support teaching and

learning on the return to school

This document should be read in conjunction with the latest guidance from the

Department for Education

Supporting the Return to EYFS – Setting up Outdoor Provision to Support Teaching and Learning COVID 19

©Lancashire County Council 2020 Lancashire Professional Development Service (LPDS) Early Years and Whitefield Nursery and Infant School, Nelson, Lancashire

This document should be read in conjunction with the latest guidance from the DfE – see

the end of the document for the links and guidance May /June 2020

©Lancashire County Council 2020 Lancashire Professional Development Service(LPDS) Early Years and Whitefield Nursery and Infant School, Nelson Lancashire



Included in this document is:

Top tips to keep

equipment clean and sanitised

Ideas on how to organise and store

outdoor equipment and resources

Lists of possible resources for use

outdoors

Photographs of outdoor provision from Whitefield

Nursery and Infant School, Nelson



Top Tips for Keeping Equipment Clean and Sanitised: Remember to keep this manageable

Create a timetable for setting up and cleaning outdoor resources to operate

throughout the day as well as at the end of the day or session and /or before use of the area and resources by another group or ‘bubble’ of children.

Children and staff to wash hands before access to outdoor learning and again before returning to classroom provision.

Provide an outdoor hand washing station for the children and staff to use. Provide an outdoor cleaning station - plastic bins with lids/liners to contain any

germs, and clean as part of the daily cleaning routine. Fill bowls and buckets with water and a suitable antibacterial cleaner such as Milton

and leave toys and equipment to soak for at least 15 minutes or 24 hours for a deep clean. Or put toys in laundry nets , wash and hang outside to dry.

Wipe resources and equipment down daily and carry out a deep clean with an anti-bacterial solution, at the end of the week or when there is a change over of children.

Store small resources in plastic baskets with holes – these can be immersed into buckets or bowls of sanitising liquid, and left to dry.

Use pillow cases or net washing bags to wash small construction /plastic small world resources in washing machines or dish washers.

Use PE mats, plastic coated table cloths, tarpaulin sheets, shower curtains which are easy to wipe down and useful for floor activities such as construction or small world. Plastic grass is also a great alternative.

Large equipment and outdoor toys which cannot be immersed in water can be wiped with a suitable solution and left for 15 minutes. This can be done daily for use by the same children, followed by a deep clean at the end of the week or when the equipment is to be used by a different group or’bubble’ of children.

A small selection of books can be provided in the outdoor area to support outdoor learning. These can be wiped with antibacterial solution daily. At the end of the week or period of time in school for that group of children the books can be given a thorough clean and quarantined for seven days before used again.

Laminated sheets information /instruction sheets, puppet characters, writing sheets will be useful and easy to keep clean.

Children can also be encouraged to wash and clean resources in outdoor provision by popping in buckets of soapy water when they have finished….ready for other children to use.

(See DfE website links at the end of the document on cleaning and hygiene)



Suitable equipment for storage and suggestions of how resources can be organised: Look at your outdoor spaces (outside the classroom, playgroup, fields, garden, woodlands,

etc.) and identify which areas which can be reasonably used to provide outdoor learning

over a day, a week or period of time.

Consider what resources you will provide for each area or space. Resources which may be

specific to the area, e.g. small apparatus for an open space. Also consider other resources

or equipment which could further enhance learning in this area, e.g. laminated numbers,

whiteboards for writing games, tallies or scores.

A plastic coated wire PE storage trolley or lunch box trolley could be useful to store boxes

/resources for outdoor learning. They can be easily moved to different areas of spaces

within the outdoors.

Plastic storage boxes or crates, shopping trollies, large supermarket shopping bags can

be used to collect and store resources for use in an area or for specific activities. These

will make resources portable and easy to store and clean.

Add empty plastic containers – ice cream containers, yoghurt pots, plastic fresh fruit

trays to areas of provision to support children’s play, e.g. in the outdoor kitchen; to

support water play – emptying, pouring – with and without holes.

Reduce the amount of resources accessible in each area of provision, to make setting

up , packing away and cleaning manageable.

Reduce the number of resources in storage boxes, but maintaining a choice of

resources to support independence and self- selection.

Use PE mats, tarpaulin sheets, shower curtains to create outdoor play spaces including

simple dens, a base for construction activities on the floor.

Tuff trays are useful to provide exciting activities and resources on the floor, on tables

or the top of cable reels and can be easily moved and cleaned.

Provide laminated information /activity sheets to support outdoor learning, including

photographs, recipes for the outdoor kitchen, to support phonics, literacy, maths,

writing, etc.



Investigation Kitchen

There are differing views and advice on using mud as

part of mud kitchen play at the moment, however

many settings have developed a mud kitchen as part

of their provision. Making this an ‘investigation

kitchen’ or a ‘potion kitchen’ will ensure it can be

cleaned easily and resources can be washed or

thrown away after use.

Consider how this area can help develop fine motor

skills in the Autumn term – cutting, chopping, grating

etc. by adding scissors (for cutting herbs, cabbage

leaves, petals), safety knifes (for cutting fruit and

vegetables), graters for grating lemons, limes, carrots,

potatoes etc. for vegetable soup.

Add laminated recipe cards for children to follow and

read, to consolidate early maths and literacy skills.



Possible Resources:

Stones

Pebbles

Shells

Bottle tops

Conkers

Potpourri

Fruit for chopping

Lemons/limes for squeezing

Graters

Pots and pans

Plastic picnic sets

Metal/plastic Spoons and ladles

Safety knifes

Juicers

Garlic press

Scissors

Herbs

Leaves

Petals

Food colouring for coloured water

Recipe cards to read and follow

Wood painted in blackboard paint for

instruction and recipes



Small World

Create simple spaces with tuff trays, cable reels or log

piles that can be quickly changed depending on children’s

interests or key themes.

Tyres or plant pots with ferns or small conifers create a

great space to help develop children’s play and

imagination.

Add plastic mini-beasts, dinosaurs and wild animals.

Laminated vocabulary cards will encourage children to

read outdoors, whilst developing their language.

Add a book where possible to develop story-telling/fact

finding. This will need to be wiped down and quarantined

for 7 days each week or in-between bubble use.

Animals/vehicles will need to be washed weekly.

Possible Resources:

Tuff tray

Crates

Pots/tyres with planting

Large plastic cars/trucks

Large plastic mini-beasts, dinosaurs,

wild animals

Logs/tree stumps

Laminates signs/labels

Wood painted with blackboard

paint for signs and labels

Books

Plastic bowls



Construction

Try and use large items that can be hosed down or cleaned regularly. - bread crates/milk crates are

a great resource

Add tarpaulin and large pegs for developing fine motor skills and simple construction opportunities

Buckets filled with cement with broom handles in make great starting points for shelters/dens

Laminates pictures of famous building or building in the local area will inspire children’s creativity.

Adding blackboards or clipboard will encourage children to mark-making and plan their designs

first.

Add small world vehicles, animals, mini-beasts to

Enhance play and enable children to engage in meaningful activities

Consider have big box activities – children can have their own boxes to create a model special to them. Photographs taken can then be shared on the whiteboard, or printed and laminated and displayed in the area for ideas for other children.

Possible Resources:

Milk/bread crates

Laminated pictures with

examples of things to build.

Clipboard and paper or

blackboard for designing

constructions

Form blocks that can be washed

Buckets

Large plant pots

Tyres

Form blocks

Perspex/cut off plastic strips

Tarpaulin

Plastic pegs

Cardboard boxes, empty plastic

containers, e.g. yoghurt pots.



Music

Children will need an initial focus on phase 1 phonics at the start of Reception, due to missing much

of their time in Nursery. Music areas will help integrate this into outdoor provision.

Add laminated nursery rhymes for children to sing and develop a steady beat.

Add picture cards for children to choose and tap out the number of sounds heard (eg d-o-g, sh-i-p,

sh-ee-p) to develop oral blending and segmenting.

Add laminated numbers for children to pick and tap the correct number of beats.

Add plastic beaters than can be washed or wiped down after use.

Possible Resources:

Pots and pans

Plastic bowls/drums

Beaters – plastic spoons, sticks, ladles,

spatulas etc.

Laminated nursery rhymes, numbers

Dog bowls

Empty chocolate tubs/biscuit tins

Upturned plastic bins as drums



Water

Water play opportunities can still be lots of fun with

potential for learning across all areas. Here are some

ideas which offer alternatives to the water tray

Provide opened ended resources for children to explore

water in different ways without having a water tray.

Having an outdoor tap will open these opportunities for

children to explore moving water and engage in

activities involving transporting water.

Water can be used as a way to engage children in

problem solving challenges for example creating

different waterway to explore how water can move round

and through a range of resources such as pipes, tubes,

drainpipes, guttering. Add objects such as plastic cars,

balls, marbles which can be used to move around the

waterways.

Adding wheelbarrows, buckets, containers of different

sizes will allow children to fill, pour and empty a range of

vessels, exploring different ways in which water can be

moved and transported as well as introducing children to

vocabulary linked to capacity, measurement and number

Children could make simple boats from plastic junk

resources and explore how they can move along

waterways, down guttering. Simple challenges to

investigate how their boats move when filled with objects.



Provide water in different sized containers

along with pipettes and turkey basters to

allow children to explore adding colour to

water. This will generate discussion about

the colour and shade of the water as

different amounts are added.

Children could have their open bowl to mix

and explore water Include whisks, spoons

with and without holes, ladles, adding

bubbles and , gloop so the children can

explore with tools rather than their hands

Create a car wash or washing station to wash

toys, to support children with their role play

and imagination. Add a whiteboard to write

messages, prices, deal of the week, etc.

Possible resources:

Buckets, trugs, metal and plastic

containers and bowls of different sizes

Builders pipes, drainpipes, guttering of

different lengths

Water stands

Jugs, containers – with and without holes,

funnels

Teapots/tea-set

Whisk, pipettes, turkey basters

Tuff spot, small trays

Plastic trucks, cars and vehicles of

different sizes and types

Balls – rubber, plastic with and without

holes

Timers

Whiteboards

Wheel vehicles, prams, large trucks, etc.

Junk materials to make simple boats



Mark Making and Writing

Mark making and writing can be so much fun outdoors. With the additional opportunity to engage in large

arm and wrist movements it is also a great way to develop upper body strength and control which is so

important for hand writing.

Offer children lots of activities which involve making

large movements and patterns using sticks, paint /paint

brushes – with paint or water , chalks on the floor or

the walls, or chalkboard pens for windows. Provide a

dice with patterns such as zigzags, spirals, castle turrets

to play a simple ‘draw what you see game’. The dice

can be used for letter formation too.

Having patterns and letters for the children to practise

will make the task more purposeful and then children

can be further challenged to make you their own

patterns or write letters or simple words.

Wood planks (varnished for easy cleaning) with patterns for children to trace over with a small tool and then to have a go at drawing the pattern independently. Letter cards or on wood slices for children to copy or trace over with a tool or their fingers Phonemes, HFW and tricky words on wood slices along with writing tools , paper, tuff trays . Encourage children to practise letter formation, and have a go at writing simple words or sentences using their phonic knowledge.

Provide lots of laminated paper of different lengths, shapes and sizes for the children to write simple

notes of messages around the outdoor provision.

Encourage children to make signs for small world, labels for models and for the plants they are

growing, instructions or menus in the outdoor kitchen, or special offers in their outdoor shop. This

could also include writing simple numbered instructions, numbered clues for a simple treasure hunt, or

number games on the playground.

Mark making can also link to maths with opportunities for children to represent their simple

calculations, problem solving, tallies or to have a go at practising writing number symbols.



Possible Resources:

Portable plastic outdoor writing

boxes or carriers - these could

even be plastic lunch boxes.

A selection of writing implements

including chalks, pencils, pencil

crayons

Paint brushes, - water paint or

water.

Letters on laminated card or

wood slices – varnished for easy

wiping

Phonemes on laminated cards or

wood slices

HFW or tricky words on cards of

wood slices

Laminated paper of different

sizes

Hole punches and plastic cord for

children to make their own books

Whiteboard pens

Chalkboard

Whiteboard

Number symbol cards



Maths

Maths provision outdoors can be provided in a maths area as well as across the other outdoor areas and

spaces within the outdoor provision. There are lots of opportunities for the development of mathematical

skills, concepts and knowledge in the water area, through the outdoor kitchen, mark making, investigation

areas, etc. Adults can support children in developing mathematical vocabulary when working with children

in the outdoor provision.

P

Providing lots of small resources in plastic boxes or containers, along with number symbols up to and

beyond 20 (on laminated card, on stones or pebbles, wood slices, plastic spoons, etc.) will allow

opportunities for a wide range of number activities including place value, counting, 1:1

correspondence and simple calculations in a fun and open ended way. Support from skilled adults will

allow the interaction with these resources to be a purposeful way of developing number concepts.

Putting these resources in washing nets at the end of the day will make cleaning easy and manageable.



Explore mathematical vocabulary linked to

number and measurement throughout the

provision, including weight, length, size,

time, e.g. how long does it take for the water

to move down the waterway? How many

slices can we chop the cabbage into? Will be

this bowl be big enough to mix the potion?

Small boxes /rucksacks with resources to

support mathematical development can be

easily prepared and the boxes can be added

to the areas of provision. A laminated list of

the contents will support organisation and

tidying up. Easily cleaned resources can be

wiped after use and put in net bags for a

deep clean at the end of the week.

Opportunities to play simple games which

can be drawn on the playground, e.g.

hopscotch, draw a number in a circle and

find the correct number of objects.

Possible Resources:

Shells,

Glass beads or nuggets

Pebbles,

Plastic collections such as mini-beast,

compare bears, transport

Plastic containers or sorting trays

Laminated number up to 20 and beyond

Laminated number lines

Small squares of plastic grass

Wood slices or limited cards with number symbol

and corresponding numbe r of spots

Cable reels as small tables

Plastic hoops

Chalks /chalk board

Talking pegs

Number dice with symbols and or corresponding

quantity

Timers

Plastic straws for measuring

Plastic storage boxes or rucksacks



Other Ideas and Activities for Outdoors

Create a simple outdoor gym with a carousel of activities for the children – 5 star jumps, 5 jumps in

and out of the hoop, 5 bunny hops, running on the stop for 10 seconds, etc. Write instructions on a

whiteboard; write scores and challenges.

Encourage balancing and movement games, including simple races and assault courses. Have some fun

with games such as musical freeze, follow my leader, funny walks, etc. All these games can be carried

out safely with small groups of children in an open space.

Create simple outdoor investigation rucksacks with laminated sheets to write on, plastic binoculars,

magnifying glasses and if going on a nature hunt in the school grounds, and include spotter sheets.

Look for spiders webs, birds in the sky, investigate different leaves and tree bark.

Teach children simple ring games – where children do not need to hold hands and can be positioned at

a safe distance, using chalked circles, hoops or plastic spots on the floor. for example ‘what time is it

Mr Wolf’, hokey cokey, in and out the dusty bluebells

Create opportunities for children to sequence stories using laminated pictures, plastic pegs and a

plastic washing line.

Possible resources:

Small outdoor apparatus –

hoops, balls, plastic bats,

plastic coated bean bags, etc.

Wipeable fabric ruck sacks

with binoculars, laminated

sheets, whiteboard pens,

magnifying glasses

Ring games songs and rhymes

laminated and displayed

outdoors.

Washing line, plastic pegs

Laminated pictures of familiar

stories.



DfE links:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preparing-for-the-wider-opening-of-early-

years-and-childcare-settings-from-1-june/planning-guide -for-early-years-and-childcare-

settings

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preparing-for-the-wider-opening-of-early-

years-and-childcare-settings-from-1-june - 24th May 2020

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-decontamination-in-non-healthcare-settings - May 2020 Public Health England Public Health England has published an updated poster that provides guidance on hygiene in educational settings. The poster can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/teach-children-simple-hygiene-to-help-curb-

infections - hand washing

17th June 2020 https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/guidance-for-schools-

coronavirus-covid-19

17th June 2020 https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/early-years-and-childcare-

coronavirus-covid-19

2nd July 2020 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-

the-coronavirus-outbreak

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preparing-for-the-wider-opening-of-early-years-and-childcare-settings-from-1-june/planning-guide%20-for-early-years-and-childcare-settings



https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preparing-for-the-wider-opening-of-early-years-and-childcare-settings-from-1-june



https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-decontamination-in-non-healthcare-settings

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-decontamination-in-non-healthcare-settings

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/teach-children-simple-hygiene-to-help-curb-infections

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/teach-children-simple-hygiene-to-help-curb-infections

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/guidance-for-schools-coronavirus-covid-19

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/guidance-for-schools-coronavirus-covid-19

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/early-years-and-childcare-coronavirus-covid-19

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/early-years-and-childcare-coronavirus-covid-19

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak

EYFS - Setting up Outdoor Provision to Support Teaching ... · skills in the Autumn term –...

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